Decision To Ban Teacher 'not Based On Full Picture'

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen has strongly criticised a decision to ban a primary school teacher from the classroom for organising lessons that officials deemed promoted Hong Kong independence.

The unnamed teacher was struck off the register of teachers on Tuesday for actions officials said "seriously harmed" pupils at a Kowloon Tong school. He's the first teacher to be deregistered for professional misconduct.

Ip said teachers, unlike other professionals such as doctors and engineers, were not given the right to an oral hearing before having their registration removed. The teacher was only able to give his side of the story in writing.

What's more, he said officials had relied on written material including worksheets and a lesson plan, rather than receiving a full picture of what happened in the classroom.

"We have to observe the lessons," Ip said. "I think I am quite experienced in observing lessons, because I am a former College of Education lecturer, and I have been observing many, many lessons and we have to look at both the lesson plan and also the actual delivering of the lessons.

"So we cannot ignore the actual delivering and just look at the lesson plan. This is a major mistake they have made this time."

Meanwhile a pro-Beijing education union welcomed the government's decision.

The Federation of Education Workers says the teacher acted in a deeply unprofessional manner, and deregistering him helped to protect pupils, and the reputation of the education sector as a whole.

Education officials said earlier that the teacher had been given ample time to make representations about the matter, and that he was made aware of the severity of deregistration.

The principal of the Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong and five other staff members have been censured for either lax monitoring or using the controversial teaching material. The school confirmed that one of its teachers had left his job.

The Professional Teachers' Union said it was helping the teacher in his appeal and may also seek a judicial review.

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